Paper guide and feed for typewriters



Sept. 29, 1942. H. MARTIN ET AL 3 3 I PAPER GUIDE AND FEED FOR TYPEWRITERS Filed April 7, 1941 Patented Sept. 29, 1942 PAPER GUIDE AND FEED FOR TYPEWRITERS Hans Martin and Leopold Gebert, Erfurt, Germany; vested in the Alien Property Custodian Application April 7, 1941, Serial No. 387,288

- In Germany July 24, 1939 4 Claims.

This invention relates to paper carriages of typewriters and the like and particularly to paper guide and feeding devices thereof.

It is an object of the invention to provide a paper guide and feed device which will insure the even and exact feed of both thin and thick papers in single or multiple layers.

Another object of the invention is to provide a paper guide and feed construction for typewriters and the like in which the guide plate or apron which underlies the platen and the feed rollers associated therewith are constructed and assembled as a unit which may be mounted in and removed as such from the paper carriage quickly and easily after the platen is removed, thereby facilitating access to all parts of the carriage by a person having little knowledge of typewriter construction.

Another object of the invention is to provide a paper guide and feed construction which will permit insertion and proper feeding of difierent numbers or thicknesses of sheets at opposite sides of the carriage at the same time.

Another object of the invention is to provide a paper carriage in which the paper guide apron and feed rollers are carried by a single shaft adapted to be mounted beneath and parallel to the platen whereby the mounting of the shaft correctly positions the guide and feed rollers in the carriage frame and in which a plurality of platen engaging feed rollers are mounted on levers carried by said shaft and capable of independent action in accommodating themselves to the thickness of the paper fed around the platen.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel mounting connection between the paper guide apron and the feed roller mounting levers wherein the levers are mounted in pairs in opposed relation on a single shaft and at their outer ends are articulated to the paper guide apron and in which the feed roller levers are held in position on the mounting shaft by springs which serve also to rock the levers into position to press the feed rollers against the platen.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel construction and method of mounting the feed roller carrying levers on a single supporting shaft, in which the levers in pairs are provided with oppositely disposed bearing seats open on one side so as to be assembled directly on the shaft from the side thereof and held in assembled engagement with the shaft by the springs which also press the feed rollers against the platen.

Another object is to provide means for spreading the levers to release the feed rollers from engagement with the platen.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the invention in relation to the accompanying drawing which illustrates a preferred constructional embodiment of the invention by way of example. In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the paper guide and feed assembly detached from the carriage,

Fig. 2 is a perspective view from above of the paper carriage with the platen and paper guide unit removed,

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, with the paper guide in operative position in the carriage,

Fig. 4 is a disjointed detail view of the mount ing levers for the feed rollers and guide apron, and

Fig. 5 is a detail of one of the end bearing supports for the supporting shaft of the paper guide and rock shaft for releasing the feed rollers.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, in which all standard parts not necessary to an understanding of the invention have been omitted, ID indicates a platen roller which is removably journalled on the paper carriage H in advance of an upstanding paper table [2 mounted thereon. The paper table I2 is provided with vertical ribs l3 adjacent the ends thereof which facilitate passage of the lower edge of the paper onto an apron M which, in operative position, extends from the lower portion of the table l2 around the underside of the platen Hi to guide the paper therearound. The rear portion of the apron I4 is dimensioned and curved backwardly to engage the lower portion of the table l2 at the lower ends of the ribs I3.

The guide apron I4 is provided with a row of front apertures l 5 and rear apertures I6 for front and rear feed rollers I! and I8, respectively, spaced along the length of the apron, which rollers contact the platen 10. The apron l4 and feed rollers I1 and I8 are supported by spaced pairs of lever arms l9 and 20 mounted on a shaft 2!. The front feed rollers ll are mounted on pivot pins 22 which extend through apertures 23 in the ends of the forwardly extending front levers I 9 of each pair and through bracket ears 24 carried by the apron I 4 at the ends of the respective apertures IS. The pins 22 and bracket ears 24 provide an articulated connection between the ends of the levers l 9 and the front portion of the apron I4. 7

The rear feed rollers 18 are mounted on pivot pins which extend through apertures 25 in the ends of the rearwardly extending rear levers 2|) and through slots 21 in bracket ears 28 carried by the apron M at the ends of the respective apertures IS. The pins 25 extending through the slots 2'! in the bracket ears 28 provide an articulated connection between the levers 20 and the rear portion of the apron and the slots 21 are arranged so that the pins can ride therein to permit relative movement between the rear feed rollers and the apron, necessary to effect release of the rollers from the platen as hereinafter described.

Referring more patricularly to Figs. 3 and 4, each front lever arm H? is formed with a downwardly opening bearing eye or notch 29 which fits the shaft 2| and with a rearwardly extending arm 39 having an upstanding stud 3| at its terminus. Each lever arm 2|] is formed with an upwardly opening bearing eye or notch 32 which fits the shaft 2| and with 9. depending stud 33 disposed in opposed relation to the stud 3| on arm of lever l9 when a pair of the levers are assembled side by side on the shaft 2|. A coiled compression spring 34 mounted on the studs 3| and 33 yieldingly rocks the levers in opposite directions to retain them on the shaft and to press the feed rollers against the platen. The levers ii] are provided with an upwardly directed, rearwardly extending projecting portion 35 which bears against the side of the respective levers 29 to steady the levers against lateral tipping. The shaft 2| on which the levers are mounted is formed with spaced annular grooves 36 constituting bearing seats in which the levers are seated, the grooves being spaced apart the length of the feed rollers and serving to prevent lateral displacement of the levers on the shaft.

For the purpose of releasing the feed rollers from pressure against the platen, the levers l9 and 20 are provided with forwardly extending arms 31 and 38, respectively, which cross each other and are adapted to engage cutaway portions 39 on opposite sides of a release shaft 4% which is provided with a release lever 4! for rocking the same. Rocking the shaft til from the position shown in Fig. 3 forces the arms 3'! and 38 apart and rocks the levers l9 and 2% about the shaft 2| against the pressure of spring 3 1- to retract the feed rollers from the platen.

A plurality of bearing blocks or rests 42, shown in detail in Fig. 5, are mounted at intervals along the length of the carriage frame beneath the platen position. These bearing blocks, which may be formed of sheet metal, include an upstanding web 43 provided with a bearing aperture 44 for mounting the release shaft Gil and an upwardly opening bearing notch 65 for seating the shaft 2|.

From the above it will be observed that the complete paper guide and feeding unit is assembled independently of the carriage frame. In the assembly, the swinging levers l9 and Eli are fitted on the shaft 2| from opposite sides and,

together with a pressure roller for each pair, are fastened to the bearing ears of the paper guide apron by the pivot pin for the feed rollers, the bearing ears being disposed between the ends of the rollers and the ends of the levers. The springs 34 are then mounted in position and hold the levers on the shaft 2|. When all of the levers and feed rollers are thus mounted, the unit is inserted in the carriage frame, the release arms 3'! and 38 being first slipped over the represses against the feed rollers, as will be readily understood. When it is desired to remove the guide for any purpose, such as cleaning or repairing, the platen is first removed and the guide unit is merely lifted bodily out of the carriage.

In the operation of a typewriter or the like equipped with the new paper guide, movement of the release lever 4| to rock the shaft 40 causes an outward movement of the ends of levers l9 and 2|! and the feed rollers carried thereby away from the platen. This movement is also transmitted to the paper guide apron through the bearing ears so that the same also moves down, uniformly enlarging the space between it and the platen. The pin and slot connection between the levers 2B and the rear bearing ears of the apron permits equalization of the paths of motion and spreading of the levers with respect to each other, which is necessary to the releasing operation.

With the unit construction of paper guide and feed according to this invention, it is possible to provide carriage frames of any length with effective paper guides simply by mounting a plurality of guide units end to end in the carriage. This is very important as it avoids the necessity of making up special feed devices for th seldom ordered, extra length carriages. In such carriages, each of the guide units has a mounting shaft equivalent in length to the apron section employed and the respective units may be separately removed and installed. However, for convenience in operation, a single release shaft extending the full length of the carriage and common to all of the guide units is preferably used.

While a preferred constructional embodiment of the invention has been shown and described by way of illustration, various modifications in the details of construction and arrangement of the parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention within the scope of the claims.

We claim:

1. In a typewriting machine, a carriage frame, a platen removably journalled in said frame, open mouthed bearing seats on said frame beneath said platen, a shaft removably seated in said bearings, spaced pairs of lever members, the lever members of each pair extending forwardly and rearwardly and having opposed open bearing notches engaging opposite sides of said shaft, springs engaging opposed portions of the levers of each pair to urge them into gripping relation with said shaft, feed rolls journalled between the respective ends of the lever arms of adjacent pairs, and a guide apron articulated to the ends of the levers and supported thereby, said guide apron, levers, feed rollers and shaft constituting a unit assembly removable as such from the carriage after removal of the platen.

2. In a typewriter, the combination with a paper carriage having a removable platen and a paper table in fixed relation to said platen, paper guide and feed means comprising a unit assembly adapted to be mounted in said carriage beneath said platen and removable therefrom upon removal of said platen, said unit assembly comprising a shaft, front and rear levers arranged in pairs spaced along said shaft and having opposiitely opening bearing notches engaging said shaft from opposite sides thereof, springs coacting between the front and rear levers of each pair and pressing them into engagement with said shaft, feed rollers journalled at the ends of said levers and adapted to bear against said platen, and a paper guide apron pivotally connected to and supported by said front and rear levers; a plurality of open mouthed bearing supports mounted in said carriage beneath the platen for seating said shaft, a release shaft journalled in said carriage, an arm on each of said levers for engaging said release shaft, said paper guide apron having a rear edge portion adapted to contact a part of said paper table on said carriage when said unit is inserted in said carriage with the arms on saidlevers engagingsaid release shaft and said first mentioned shaft is seated in said bearings to position said paper guide apron and feed rollers for cooperation with the platen.

3. In a typewriting machine, a paper carriage frame, a platen removably journalled in said frame, open mouthed bearing members mounted in said frame beneath the position occupied by the platen; a paper guide and feed unit comprising a shaft adapted to seat in said bearing members, a plurality of spaced pairs of lever members pivotally mounted on said shaft, each pair of lever members comprising a front lever and a rear lever arranged side by side and have oppositely disposed bearing notches engaging said shaft from opposite sides, a spring coacting between the levers of each pair and pressing them into engagement with said shaft, said shaft having annular grooves for seating the bearing portions of each pair to retain them against lateral displacement, feed rollers journalled at the ends of the respective lever arms, and a curved guide apron pivotally connected at spaced points to said levers and supported thereby; said paper guide and feed unit being bodily removable from said carriage after removal of said platen; a rocking cam release shaft mounted on said frame, arm members carried by said levers for engaging said cam release shaft when said unit is in operative position in said carriage frame to throw said levers away from said platen to release the pressure of the feed rolls therefrom, and means for rocking said cam release shaft.

4. A typewriting machine as defined in claim 3 in Which one of the levers of each pair is provided with a widened fiat bearing portion bearing on the side of the other lever.

HANS MARTIN. LEOPO'LD GE'BERT. 

